Down To Earth

11/04/2024

🐀LESSON FOR MANY🐀
A mouse, looking through a hole in the wall, sees the farmer and his wife open a package. He was terrified to see that it was a mousetrap. He ran to the patio to warn everyone.

-"There is a mousetrap at home!".
The chicken that was cackling and digging says: "excuse me, Mr. Mouse, I understand that it is a big problem for you, but it does not hurt me at all."

So, the rodent went to the lamb and he says the same thing: "Excuse me Mr. Mouse, but I don't think I can do more than ask for you in my prayers."
The mouse went to the cow and she said: "But am I in danger? I think not!" said the cow.
The mouse returned to the house, worried and dejected to face the farmer's mousetrap.

That night a great noise was heard like that of the mousetrap catching its victim, the woman ran to see what she had caught.
In the dark she did not see that the mousetrap caught the tail of a poisonous snake.
The speedy snake bit the woman, the farmer immediately took her to the hospital, she came back with a high fever.

The farmer to comfort her prepared a nutritious soup, grabbed the knife and went to find the main ingredient: the chicken; Since the woman did not get better, friends and neighbors went to visit them, the farmer killed the lamb to feed them, the woman did not get better and died.
And in the end, the husband sold the cow to the slaughterhouse to cover the funeral expenses.

The next time someone tells you about their problem and you think that it doesn't affect you because it's not yours and you don't pay attention to it, think twice, “he who doesn't live to serve, doesn't serve to live”.

The world is not going badly because of the wickedness of the bad, but because of the apathy of the good.
So when someone needs you for their problems, give them your hand or give them a word of encouragement.
May you never lack empathy!
Remember it very well, EMPATHY

04/04/2024

Those were the days...

01/04/2024

"The dandelion is the only flower that represents the the sun, moon and stars. ☀️ 🌙 ⭐️. The yellow flower resembles the sun, the puff ball resembles the moon, and the dispersing seeds resemble the stars. The dandelion flower opens to greet the morning and closes in the evening to go to sleep.

Every part of the dandelion is useful: root, leaves, flower. It can be used for food, medicine and dye for coloring.

Up until the 1800s people would pull grass out of their lawns to make room for dandelions and other useful “weeds” like chickweed, malva, and chamomile. The name dandelion is taken from the French word “dent de lion” meaning lion’s tooth and they have one of the longest flowering seasons of any flower. Seeds are often carried as many as 5 miles from their origin. Animals such as birds, insects and butterflies consume nectar or seed of dandelion 🐝

Dandelion flowers do not need to be pollinated to form seed. They were well known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for over a thousand years. Dandelion is used in folk medicine to treat infections and liver disorders. Tea made of dandelion act as diuretic.

Dandelions are, quite possibly, the most successful plants that exist, masters of survival worldwide.

Every year countries spend millions on lawn pesticides to have uniform lawns of non-native grasses, and we use 30% of the country’s water supply to keep them green."

29/03/2024

I'm blown away by the response to a simple walk i want to do around the Knysna estuary.
There seems to be sooo much interest! So, based on the keen interest from so many for different days, I have decided that for April, I will arrange 3 walks on different days.
I would love for this to be a regular monthly walk, taking us across different areas of our beautiful town each month.
I think that by arranging the three walks in April, I will be able to gauge which day will be the most popular to make as the monthly day for future walks.

I am just an individual who wants to walk and explore. My dream is to eventually do the Camino in Spain. But to walk with no purpose seems pointless, so this is why I would like to encourage each person to donate a small fee, R150 per person per walk, or as little or as much as your budget allows.
Each month, we will draw a charity name, and all donations will go to buying supplies for them.
I will keep a clear record of donations and will show receipts as proof.

Thank you again for your amazing interest. I look forward to meeting so many of you soon.

10/03/2024

We have some short tutorial videos lined up... let us know which skill you would like us to post first:

1 • soft bread, quick & easy (not sourdough)
2 • homemade pasta (dinner for under R10)
3 • homemade washing powder
4 • homemade yoghurt
5 • homemade cheese
6 • homemade veggie burgers
7 • homemade hummus
8 • homemade cleaning products
9 • spinach & feta ciabatta
10 • how to make affordable duvet cover sets

We have so many more money saving, homemade, DIY projects to share with you, but these are a start.

Type the number for your choice in the comments.

04/03/2024

Dont let work and stress clutter your mind. Take a moment to redirect your energy to something that can lift your mood.
Simply "smelling the flowers", can clear your mind, trigger happy hormones and help you focus better and in the right frame of mind.

03/03/2024

South Africa has 9 provinces, each with its own unique climate.
Thanks to this, we are able to grow such an amazingly broad selection of fruits and vegetables.

Here are some of them:
• apples
• pears
• peaches
• apricots
• cherries
• grapes
• citrus
• wheat
• maize
• canola
• sunflowers
• sorgum
• mangoes
• litchis
• banana
• cashews
• macadamias
• pecans
• peanuts
• rooibos
• ceylon tea
• pineapples
• prickly pear
• garlic
• pumpkin
• beans
• potato
• tomato
• cabbage
• cauliflower
• broccoli
• brusselsprouts
• soya bean
• peas
• melons
• watermelon
• dragonfruit
• avocado
• aloe
• to***co
• blueberries
and sooooo much more.

If you can think of something grown in South africa that isn't listed below, comment and let us all know.

South Africa has 9 provinces, each with its own unique climate.Thanks to this we are able to grow such an amazingly broad selection of fruits and vegetables....